Report: Turkey seeks life prison term for US pastor

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Media reports say Turkish prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for an American pastor who is accused of links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt in Turkey.

The private Dogan news agency said Tuesday that in their indictment, prosecutors in the western Turkish city of Izmir are charging pastor Andrew Brunson with being a member and of leading a terror organization. The indictment would need to be approved by a court before prosecution can begin.

Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for more than 20 years, was arrested soon after the July 2016 coup attempt.

The U.S. has demanded that the pastor, who denies the accusations, be freed.

Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, has denied involvement in the coup. Turkey is seeking his extradition from the U.S.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.